Transference
by CayleeElizabeth
Summary: Caroline dyes her hair.


Transference

Caroline has learned a few things about being a vampire over the years. One of those things is that there's not much you can change about yourself when you're forever destined to be seventeen. So it's really no big surprise when she occasionally changes the color of her hair as a small act of rebellion against her eternal youth.

It starts almost twenty years after her transition. She's with Stefan, sharing a villa in Venice. Elena's dead, Katherine's gone, so it's just the two of them; filling the same space, occupying the time. Stefan's been heartbroken for almost a decade, probably longer than that. He's more than likely been heartbroken for over a century if you really take the time to think about it. Take the time to really understand the enigma that is Stefan Salvatore. It's like he knows no other way to live, other than to be forever broody, always sad and angry at himself for the choices he made over the years. So he calls Caroline out of the blue, and asks her if she would like to see Venice, and she can hear the crack in his voice, can hear his sadness over the phone. So she agrees and packs her bags and takes the next flight out. Because she will always be the Tigger to his Eyeore, and she will turn him around, and right this ship, and make him _smile_ again.

It's one sunny morning when they're both lying in bed that Stefan gently runs his fingers through her blonde curls and quietly says "_I'd bet you'd look beautiful as a brunette." _And Caroline _flinches_ at his words, and has flashbacks to Psychology 101 when she learned about transference, and she's about snap. But then she turns and looks at Stefan, and sees the heartache in his gorgeous green eyes. So she bites her bottom lip, smiles slightly, and gently runs her fingertips over his jawline and says "I am getting a little tired of being blonde."

The next day she's standing in the drugstore, two boxes of hair color in her hands as she contemplates which shade of brunette she should go with. She had never _changed_ her hair color before. Sure she's done hi-lights and low-lights before, but nothing like this, nothing so drastic. She frowns slightly as she ponders over Chestnut and Dark Caramel, because she gets it, but she's _not_ trying to look like Elena's distant cousin, or whatever. Finally with a huff, Caroline throws the box of Chestnut back on the shelf and practically stomps to the register, every bone in her body screaming "_No, this is _not_ right and you _know_ it!" _But she ignores that voice and pays for the box of color and a candy bar and makes her way back to the villa.

She looks at her reflection in the bathroom mirror as she curls her newly dyed locks, because she's not straightening it. Nope, not in a million years, she doesn't care how many times Stefan pouts his lips. And she can't help but appreciate how the darker tresses really bring out the blue in her eyes. And she laughs when Stefan comes home and drops the bag of groceries when he sees Caroline and her new hair. And she smiles sweetly and thinks '_This is ok. He _needs _this_' while they lay in bed and he can't stop running his fingers through her dark caramel waves.

It's another ten years after that when she runs into Klaus. He frowns when he sees that her hair is now brunette and mumbles something about it dimming her light. She shrugs it off and barely murmurs Stefan's name and decides to stay with him at his home in London for a while. She kind of likes the cool rainy days and the warm fires, and is happy that she can just _be_ with Klaus now.

She lightens her hair, though she doesn't go back to the sun-kissed blonde, it's more of a rich honey, and it makes her feel more sophisticated, and she starts to think she could maybe spend the rest of her life with the Original Hybrid.

Klaus smiles warmly when he sees Caroline come home with golden locks that almost glow in the firelight and quickly grabs his sketchpad and orders her to sit. "_No, not that way Love_." And he adjusts her just so; so the light from the fire warms her skin and sets her golden hair aflame. She rolls her eyes, but sits as still as she can while Klaus lounges on the sofa across from her and busily renders her likeness with his set of colored charcoal. And his brow creases, and he chews on his bottom lip as he concentrates, and Caroline starts to feel her heart melt for a man she thought she could never love.

Caroline receives a call from Matt almost thirty years after that. He's old now, and tired, and Caroline can hear the unspoken words over the phone, so she kisses Klaus goodbye and flies back to Mystic Falls to sit by Matt's side.

He looks older, frail, but he still has laughter in his eyes and Caroline can still see the boy that he was. She kisses his cheek, and holds his hand, and reads him books. She asks him what it was like to grow, and age, and _live_. He smiles and tells her, but is careful to not make her feel like she missed out on anything even though she has, because he got to live and grow and age, and she got left behind.

She goes to a salon and asks to have her hair dyed gray, and the stylist looks at her a little funny, but doesn't ask why. Caroline smiles when the stylist blows out her now silver locks. She doesn't really look any older, but she can pretend.

Matt laughs a hearty laugh when she returns to his home. She tries to act offended by his outburst but is soon busy laughing with him at her utter silliness.

Caroline calls his ex-wife and his two sons when the time finally comes. She pins up her silver hair and wears a black dress and _thanks_ Matt for letting her spend the last few months with him.

She runs into Tyler not long after that. She's not really surprised. A wolf always stays close to his home and his pack. She's still bitter and a little angry, but she smiles when he looks at her curiously and says _"What's up with your hair?" _She shrugs and tells him about Matt and he tries to understand but he can't.

She dyes her hair black and spends her summer with Tyler in the mountains.

They're rough with each other, and that's ok because they always were that way. Polar opposites that can't help but create a spark. He pulls her hair and calls her dirty names. She scratches and hits and bites and loves him just the same.

Finally she grows tired of the games and leaves Tyler and washes the black away.

She dyes her hair red and moves to Spain. And is a little relieved when she doesn't recognize a single face in the streets.

She's sitting in a café, drinking a latte and is lost in a book when a familiar voice comes from behind her, _"Hey Blondie, fancy running into you here." _And Caroline grits her teeth, because really? After all these years? And she's not even _blonde_ anymore.

"Maybe you should call me Red now." She doesn't have to look to know that he's smirking at her as he sits down across from her and pretends to read the menu.

"Oh but you'll always be Blondie to me." She rolls her eyes and wants to gag at the sickly sweet tone he takes with her. And what's his deal? It's been almost a hundred years since she's seen him, and she feels like she's changed so much, but he's still the same.

She tolerates his company and doesn't push him away when he gets too close, and maybe he has changed just a little.

He twirls a red curl around his finger one hot and sweaty night and mumbles _"I don't hate it"_ when he thinks she's sleeping. But she's not. And the next day she runs to the nearest salon and demands to go back to blonde in her best broken Spanish and returns home with sun-kissed golden locks and Damon frowns slightly against the rim of his coffee cup at the sudden change and says "I kind of liked the red." Caroline shrugs and pours herself a cup of coffee and dismissively says "I was ready for a change." And Damon laughs and almost spits out his coffee and did she really just say that?

"You were ready for change so you went back to what you started with? What you were born with?" Caroline rolls her eyes because damn she hates this man sometimes and sits on the kitchen counter and kicks her feet.

"I ran out of colors." Damon walks to her and stands between her legs and tucks a strand of sunshine behind her ear and pouts a little when he says, _"But I only got to see red."_

_**A/N – I know, another one-shot. I promise I'll update Mutation and Asleep one of these days. Please review, you know I love it when you do. T-**_


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